Radiator support



Nov. 17, 1925. I, 1',ssi.904

V G. BRACALE RADIATOR SUPPORT Filed Oct. 17, 1931 til Patented Nov. 17, 1925. I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

GIUSEPPE BRACALE, OF NEW HAVEN, OONNECTICITT, ASSIGNO RHTO THE G O MANUe FACTURING COMPANY,- OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

RADIATOR SUPPORT.

Application filed October 17, 1921. Serial No. 508,162.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GIUSEPPE BRAGALE', a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of New Haven, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Radiator Supports,

of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to radiator supports and more particularly to a means for supporting or suspending acooling unit upon the frame of an automotive vehicle.

One object of my invention is to provide means for supporting a radiator upon the vehicle frame in such a manner that any strain upon the radiator case or core due to the weaving of the frame members as the vehicle is travelling over the road, or any other cause, will be greatly diminished if not entirely obviated.

Another object of my invention'is toprovide a radiator support such that any strain which may be placed upon the supporting members will not be borne either by the radiator core or the side casing members of the core case.

Another object of my invention is to sup port a radiator entirely from the bottom end thereof instead of from the side members, as has been done heretofore.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a radiator support which will permit some relative movement between the radiator and the vehicle frame and thus greatly diminish the strainupon the former due to the relative movement of the frame members.

To these and other ends the lnvention consists m the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and Fig. is an enlarged detail view of the supporting means shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is 'a detail sectional view online .case enclosing a cooling core 14 having cooling channels of any desired type connecting the upper and lower tanks. The parts of the core may or may not, according to the usual practice, be connected to the side frame members 12 and 13 as well as being attached to the'upper and lowertanks 10 and 11.

In order to supportthe cooling unit from-- the'lower portion thereof below the core, I

have applied by any suitable'means, such as riveting or the like, to the lower surface of the tank 11 a pair of looped straps 15 having spaced eyes 16 adapted to receive a pivot pin 17.

The vehicle frame is illustrated conventionally by the two channel frame members 18 between and upon which the radiator is supported. The frame members 18 are perforated at 19 to receive a bolt 20 passed through an L-shaped bracket or hanger 21 provided with a reduced looped end 22 adapted to fit between the loop eyes 16 and receive the pivot pin '17. The radiator is thus pivotally hung from the lower end of the hanger or bracket 21.

In order that a somewhat loose connection may be provided between the hangers 21 and the frame members of the vehicle, the perforation 19 is of greater diameter than that of the bolt 20 so as to permit some relative movement between the boltand hanger and the corresponding frame member. In order to prevent any rattling of these parts and to maintain a somewhat firm frictional engagement between them, a felt washer 29 may be placed between the lower surface of the hanger 21 and the upper surface of the frame member 18 and the bolt 20 is provided at its lower end with a washer23 of suitable form and nut 24.

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It will be apparent that by this construction I have swung or suspended the radiator pivotally from the frame members and, moreover, have provided for additional relative movement between the frame members and radiator by the loose connection between the bolt 20 and the frame member 18. It will be apparent, therefore, that any weaving or distortion of the frame of the vehicle due to irregularties in the surface of the road over which it is travelling will not be transmitted directly to the radiator, but will be taken up in the relative pivotal movement permitted between the radiator and the hangers and by the loose connection of the bolts 20 with the frame. Moreover, any stress or strain which is transmitted to the radiator frame by any distortion of the main frame of the vehicle will be transmitted to and resisted by the lower tank structure or the bottom frame portion of the radiator and will not be transmitted to the core, which as has been stated above, is relatively easily ruptured. The life of the radiator is thus greatly prolonged and the tendency for it to spring a leak is greatly diminished.

In Figs. i to 6 I have shown a somewhat modified form of my invention wherein the radiator is suspended from the hangers 21 by lugs 25 cast integrally with the end of the tank instead of being applied thereto by rivets or the like, as in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3. The lug 25 is provided with the spaced loops 26 designed to embrace the looped end 22 of the hanger 21, so that the pivot pin 17 may be passed through all of the loops to pivotally connect the parts. It will be apparent that also in this form of my invention the radiator is connected to the vehicle frame by means of the bottom case member designated as 28 and any strains transmitted to the radiator case resulting from distortion of the main frame or relative movement of the frame members will not be transmitted to the radiator core, but will be resisted by the lower portion of the radiator case or the walls of the lower tank.

It will be, of course, apparent that my improved supporting means may be applied to any radiator whether of the cellular type or of the tubular type and advantage may be taken of various constructions now found on the lower portions of radiators of some manufacturers for the application of my device thereto.

hile I have shown and described some preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that it is not limited to all of the details shown, but is capable of many modifications and variations which lie within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: p

1. In a vehicle, a frame provided with spaced frame members, brackets, each having a horizontal portion loosely secured upon the upper surface of one of the frame members and a vertical portion depending from said horizontal portion, a radiator. body having a case member at the lower portion thereof, plates rigidly attached upon the lower side of the case member and projecting laterally beyond the sides of thesaid horizontal portion, and means rigidly secured to the under surface of a radiator body and pivotally connected to the depending portions of the brackets whereby the radiator body is suspended from said frame members and swingable therebetween.

3. In combination, a vehicle frame, and a radiator mounted thereon, said radiator having a cooling core and a case member eX- tending along the bottom thereof, laterally extending members rigidly secured to the bottom surface of said case member, means for pivotally connecting said laterally extending members to the vehicle frame, comprising inverted L-shaped brackets movably connected to the frame upon the upper surface thereof, and means interposed between said brackets and said frame to frictionally resist movement therebetween.

4. A vehicle frame including spaced members having perforations therein, inverted L-shaped brackets mounted upon the upper surface of said frame members by bolts passing therethrough and through said perforations, said bolts being loosely re ceived in said perforations whereby the brackets are permitted movement relatively to the frame members, means for maintaining frictional engagement between said brackets and said frame members to resist such movement therebetween, and means rigidly secured to the under surface of a radiator body, pivotally connected to said brackets, whereby said radiator body is movable relatively to each of said frame members to compensate for differences of position therebetween to prevent undue straining of the core of the radiator.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 13th day of October, 1921.

GIUSEPPE BRACALE. 

